THE AXEMEN SERIES : Nicholas Mahoney, / UItimata.

1.Tell us your name and the band you play for

Nicholas Mahoney, and I play for the band UItimata.

 

2.Who made you want to pick up the guitar

A mix of things, my family is all super musical, my friends were into it, and probably guitar hero haha. Video game music definitely had a huge influence, and my brother was always shoving thrash metal and industrial music down my throat at a super early age.

3.Are you self taught or did you take lessons?

Both, I was self taught for about 5 years or so and then took lessons from some incredible players, like Jason Richadson and Sims Cashion.

4. Can you read music, Can you read tab?

Not very well haha. I can read tab ofcourse, I write tabs from almost every riff i create.

5.Do you feel like you have your own sound / tone ?

Defintely. Not sure where to begin describing it, maybe a sinister and gothic sound but also modern metal.

6.Tell us about your guitar ( brand ,model . year , color )

I just play an old Schecter i bought 2nd hand. It's a black Hellraiser C7 diamond series with a pearl trim. Not sure of the year. I scored it for less than 500 bucks at the time. 

  

7.What about pickups? Passive or active ? Tell us about them

I use active pickups, but I'm not particularly for actives over passive. I like both pretty equally if im being honest. 

8.Lets get into amplification, Same drill brand , model , speakers etc

I have a Marshall DSL amp and Schecter halfstack. 

9.Do you have a pedal board? Tell us about that badboy

I have an old Boss GT-6 I use for live shows. It's actually not bad if you have pateince of a saint and can spend hours dialing something in haha.

10..Now tell us your Dream Rig in detail…..

Axe FX 3, Ernieball Musicman Jason Richardson Cutlass. Beyond that, i'm not too particular over amps and cabs. 

11.What guitarist can you not stand?

Difficult question. Let's come back to that one.

12. Is tone more important or is technique?

Technique in my opinion, but tone is still MEGA important

  

13. Name your top 5 guitarists

Jason Richardson

Fredrik Thordendal

John Petrucci 

Allan Holdsworth

Wes Hauch

14.Who is the most overrated guitarist

 

Kirk Hammett?

15.Who would you like a one hour private sit down lessons with anyone dead or alive?

Allan Holdsworth. I've already taken lessons with my favorite guitarist who is currently alive :p.